Tag: GasHouse (Page 39 of 53)

Yeah, I did that headline on purpose. Maybe a get a few curious PAX to see what went on at the GasHouse. I admit to being guilty of a clickbait headline every now and then, maybe you are as well. For the record, Kelly Kapowski can still bring it and for the record, ‘nice jugs’ is an applicable adjective. Okay, time to get this train back on the rails. I’ll digress into the workout which the theme was in fact handling some jugs, 1 gallon water jugs to be accurate. At maybe 8 lbs, it doesn’t seem like much but with enough reps and enough sets, the PAX seemed to feel the effects. On a cool Fall morning that is the essence of a college football Saturday, 9 men posted to lift, press, and extend some nice full jugs. With a veteran group, a light disclaimer to underline YHC had a few suggestions they were free to follow at their own peril. I went like this…

Warm-Up

• 5 Burpees OYO (needed to get the mumble chatter going)
• Moroccan Night Clubs – IC x 10
• Squat Merkins – Sgl Ct x 10
• (New! Stay in low squat; fall forward to a merkin; push back to squat stance. Nice grind for multiple muscles)
• Seal Jacks – IC x 10
• Don Quixote – IC x 10

Pledge

Mosey to Grier Middle School – stop at Q’s car to retrieve two gallon water jugs per PAX; proceed to the track.

Set 1: Single Count, 15 reps each;

• Side lunge/extend: Begin with feet together, side step right and twist with one jug in left hand touching opposite foot, step back and extend arm to the left. Flapjack.
• LBC holding one jug
• Seated position, feet off the ground, alternate right then left arm extensions with jugs
• Push, Press holding two jugs
• Repeat two times

Set 2: Moved to the bleachers; Single Count, 15 reps each;

• Bulgarian Squat – both jugs in hand; left then right
• Bent over row – one jug in hand; left then right
• Tricep kickback – one jug in hand; left then right
• Repeat two times

Partner work on the track – separated into groups of 3 men

One partner lunge walks with two jugs in hand; The other two partners perform 10 LBC’s then 10 Merkins; pick up their two jugs and sprint to catch their teammate to switch out. With quads on fire, we Omaha’ed after 200 meters. Nice work to the team of Roscoe, Squirt and Bacon for pushing the pace and earning the right for extra credit plank work.

Walking mosey across the field to our starting point. The Q’s Weinke said a round of Dora 1-2-3 was up next. It would have been a painful stress on our upper bodies. I Omaha’ed and opted to dive into Mary (following my last QIC to keep our sweet girl happy).

Mary – most of these were in counts of 15, either in cadence or single count based on the called exercise.

• Reverse crunch with jug
• Flutter kick holding jug
• Side plank lawn mower pull with jug (right then left)
• Pointing Dog (plank position; right hand with jug draws in for elbow to touch left knee) switch

At this point my Weinke was complete. Only Stroganoff seemed to want Dora – he lost the vote – PAX’s choice began (to the best of my memory…)

• French curls
• American hammers
• Tricep extensions
• Bench press
• Flys
• Monkey humpers (began w/o jugs; the Spiderman added arms extended w/ jugs – ouch!)
• Hammer twists (right, then left)
• Appalachian Americans: with the jugs in hand, T-Square re-named Moonshiners.
• Standard curls (we stopped short of 15 when Bacon lost his count)
• Isolation curls – right, then left; led by Roscoe stating to go slow and squeeze at the top to create the definition. If you see anyone one of the PAX in a tank top this week – now you know.

Time to return the jugs and mosey to the AO. Announcements were CSAUP on 11/11-12. CSAUP t-shirt order is closed but will re-open after the event for those that missed the chance. We gathered into the BOM to lift up prayers for Bandit and losing not only his mother, but his M’s uncle passed recently as well. With T-Square and Stroganoff among the PAX, we were reminded of another round of hurt that circles among us. The visitation is Tuesday, 10/25 from 6 to 8 pm at McLean’s Funeral Home in Gastonia. The PAX are looking to show up in support. Look for more information if you would like to participate.

Moleskin:

Another fun opportunity to lead and be among F3 brothers. I began thinking about the concept to use water jugs as resistance for a workout earlier in the week. The Q spot for this morning was open giving me the sign to put the idea into motion (literally and figuratively). I felt better about my opportunity after hearing Stroganoff lead the Third F at Panera. He shared a message based upon his reading of “What’s With You and God” by Irving Stubbs. It was a good discussion where we talked about what our respective plans are as we mosey through our faith journey and the need to find courage to step forward and lead can be a daily test within our lives. Yet another example for the power within F3 to foster all of us to find our known and hidden talents and use them. (BTW if you clicked on the Kelly Kapowski link, you failed the test – 5 burpees OYO).

Saturday Morning in October.  It’s gloomy at the start, 12 men climbed out of the fartsack for Bombs, Bears, and Crabs.

Disclaimer
Warmup: Mosey around the parking lot twice to get the blood pumping
Plank-orama:
plank jacks
Shoulder taps
Merkins
Peter parkers
Ssh
Hillbillies
Recover!

YC Planned on a Mosey to the Library for the warmup but the gloominess had me thinking of hidden prophylactics in the dark parking lot so I opted for the sanctuary of the parking lot outside the sanctuary.  We mosey’ed up the hill to the church parking lot to set off some BOMBS!

BURPEES X 50
OVERHEAD CLAPS X 100
MERKINS X 150
BIG BOY SIT UPS 200
SSH 250

By this time 40 minutes had already passed and we were nearly out of time for the fun!

Mosey to soccer field
Crab vs bear soccer 12 mins.
Surprisingly, the most agressive player on the pitch was Monk!  With the other team up 3-1 YHC called next score wins, but no one else scored so we ended in a tie.

Mosey back to the Schiele for some Mary til we die or the bells ring. The usual exercises:
CCV’s, Mountain Climbers, Bicycles, LBC’s, Flutters, Dying Cockroaches, but JK2 mixed it up with some Box Cutters, literally drawing boxes with both legs (like hello dolly and flutters at the same time).
And the 8:01 Church bells couldn’t come at a better time!

Announcements: Register for the CSAUP!,
Prayer requests: Bacon pulled a muscle while playing soccer, Sledges father and his new pacemaker, Bandit’s mom struggling with health, YHC friend Emmanuel with kidney failure, and of course our country. God help our country no matter who is elected!

3 Gashouse Nomads rolled out of the mall at 5:30am to go visit “The Deep”.  I really enjoy this whole nomad thing cause it gives the group an opportunity to experience the 2nd F with each other.  We arrived at Oakridge Middle School a little early but it was ok, because it let us see how nice SC schools really are and how their lottery money gets put to good use.  Slaw found his parking spot at the sign that says “Secretary” and then one by one the PAX started arriving.  Double-D and Crabcakes  had Q and they didn’t let down.  By doing this nomad thing it also let’s us see new ideas and exercises to bring back to the Gashouse.  Once again I would recommend each of you come experience the nomad workout at least once to enjoy 2nd F with your brothers and visit different AO’s.  Thanks again for driving Slaw!!  Until next time Pizza Man is oooooouuuuuutttttt!!!

The F3 Gas House PAX were so determined to get the Ghost Flag back from SOB this morning that it seemed like half of Gaston County emerged from the gloom at da Vinci to make sure they outnumbered any other contenders. Doors and windows could be heard slamming and locking and mothers huddled in bedroom corners attempting to comfort their frightened children as Whoopie, Dolph, and Freight lead the rowdy Sandy Vs into town.

YHC was briefly a target of the Vs menacing intimidation tactics when he began his site recon. As YHC crossed Ardrey Kell in the darkness he could see glowing beast eyes rapidly approaching him and he heard that final roar a defenseless antelope hears as the lion makes him his next meal (In all honesty I run more like a jackalope). It turned out to be a pickup truck overflowing with Gas House PAX but it was quite scary and YHC is certain he heard the truck aggressively accelerate as he reached the middle of the road….just sayin’.

Luckily Kid Rock had just done a “fly by” of da Vinci as part of his weekly 20 mile pre-workout “warm up” run. So if things got out of hand with the Vs, YHC knew that if he pressed his Life Call button Kid Rock would put the Flash to shame and be at YHC’s side in a heartbeat.

YHC is not sure what the root cause of all the Gas House hostility is. As all you readers know, YHC has done nothing but kindly encourage his beloved Gas House friends to come and enjoy peaceful and loving fellowship with the gentlemen of da Vinci.

• Note: In the spirit of full disclosure, YHC’s past week’s Twitter activity MAY possibly be interpreted as him doing everything he could to taunt the Gas House Sandy Vs (I mean PAX) into a confrontation…again, just sayin’.

COP:

After a quick parking lot warm up lap with high knees, butt kickers and L/R karaokes, PAX rounded up for first of 3 COP locations.

• 1st COP – 20 SSH
• Mosey to guard rail behind Pet Smart for 10 derkins IC
• Mosey to far end of guard rail for 15 incline merkins IC
• Mosey to 2nd COP – 15 LSS
• Mosey to 3rd COP – 15 IW

The Thang:

Cross Rea Road to Blakeney Shopping Center.

P1 = LBCs while P2 = runs lap of center square. R&R for 2 rotations. Plank for the 6.

P1 = Freddie Mercurys while P2 = runs lap. R&R = 2 rotations.

Mosey to back building with stairs. Get new partners.

Between partners complete 100 merkins with P1 pumping them out while P2 runs the stair loop. R&R. Plank up for the 6.

Same drill – substitute 200 squats for the merkins.

Mosey to 131 Main parking lot for new Mary exercise in honor of our Gas House visitors. The “Sandy V” was unveiled today and it received loud applause from the PAX and even louder laughter from passersby.

Mosey across Ardrey Kell to the Green Monster for 5s = Merkins at the top, squats at the bottom.

Mosey down the side walk for a set of 10 merkins IC.

Mosey to medical  parking lot fountain area. Do 15 fountain dips, run up hill to stop sign and back and R&R once.

Using 4 islands – alternate bear crawl, lunge, bear crawl, lunge back to top of hill.

Mosey to bottom of hill. Lunge to mail box, backwards run to speed bum, balls out run to stop sign.

After almost losing half the Gas House PAX to a stray car (I swear that wasn’t planned – driver only waved to YHC because he thought he was a good friend of mine that I had told to be there at exactly 0714 #weirdcoincidence?), 10 more Sandy Vs.

Mosey back across Rea Road to apartment complex road. Run back towards Chick-fil-A stopping at 7 trees along the way and doing 10 merkins at each. All PAX go back to finish with the 6.

Note: The whole PAX going back to get the 6 and finishing those last few sets with them was the text book definition of what this whole F3 “thing” is all about. And incredible effort and determination shown by the 6 to push through the pain and fatigue and finish da Vinci STRONG!

Mosey to bank lot for Mary:

• LBC x 15
• Flutter x 20
• American hammer x 15
• H2H x 15
• 4 corners of the bank – 10 LBCs each corner (and a little car dodging – YHC didn’t know them either #2ndweirdcoincidence?)
• End with 5 Sandy Vs IC !!!

Mosey back to start.

DONE!

Announcements:

• Gas House is hosting “The Climb” over Veterans Day weekend with special guest speaker Dredd. Read the pre-blast for details. This sounds like an awesome and challenging CSAUP event or as the Vs say “Where a goat can go, a man can go. And where a man can go, a cannon can go.” While YHC thinks the actual quote says that a man can “drag a gun” I don’t want that pickup truck appearing again when I try to cross the road sooooo, AYE Gas House, AYE!
• Southern Discomfort – 10/22/16 – 0700 – Charlotte Catholic High – sounds awesome and painful all at once – see pre-blast for details.

Moleskin:

• Paper Jam – thanks for taking us out with a powerful and heartfelt message.
• Great 2nd F at Coffeteria!
• Sorry to keep you from your tree stand Blart. (SOB guys are Googling “tree stand” right now!)
• All kidding aside – thanks for coming down Gastonia – great PAX with incredible energy and enthusiasm. (Thanks again for not putting my car on blocks)
• Heisenberg – keep up the dedication – support is all around you – you’ll be Q’ing in no time!
• YHC has determined that Bucky is a cyborg – I’ve never heard him breathe hard or seen him break a sweat. In the heat of the workout he recited the Declaration of Independence…TWICE! …BACKWARDS!
• Has the Earth tilted off its axis? Has the fat lady sung? Has Hell frozen over? Did Dolph actually QUIT an exercise before anyone else? Does YHC get some kind of merit badge or special act award for making him say “You got me!” ??? That is by far my greatest F3 accomplishment!
•  Enjoy your time with the flag Gas House – but don’t get too comfortable with it and don’t mistake our INCREDIBLE kindness for weakness – the “SOB Flag” will be home again soon!

Great start to the day with Monk’s faith/history lesson on spreading the good news and leadership. It was a bit cooler today… so much that Monk has declared that we’ll start 3F at Panera after #Gashouse workouts starting next week (seriously… It’s OFFICIAL).

After our 3F discussion, we had 10 regulars. Most were familiar faces to me. Also glad to meet Pink Floyd who had EH’d 2 FNGs that were ready to roll. This is what went down…

Disclaimer (even if JK2 didn’t bother to listen)
– I’m Not Professional
– Participate At Your Own Risk
– You are Responsible for you
– Instructions are Suggestions
– Modify As Needed

Warm Up
– SSH x 20
– Squat x 20
– Toy Solider x 15
– LBC x 15
– Don Quixote x 10
– Mericans x 10

Mosey to flag for the Pledge

Mosey to the Greer Middle School parking lot for some additional warmups back and forth. Included butt kickers, high knees, kareoke, bear crawls, duck walk (t-claps to JK2 for being the fastest duck).

Next we mosied to the track for some 4 Corners work.
– Dying Cockroaches x20
– LBC x20
– American Hammer x20
– Mountain Climbers x20

First round was together IC. Rounds 2 and 3 were OYO making sure we always pickup the six.

After a brief lesson on the origins and principles of F3, we made our way to the picnic tables for some dips and step ups IC. 15 dips, 25 step ups. 10 dips, 25 step ups, 10 more dips (last 5 REAL slow to really feel the burn) and 25 step ups.

Next we mosied to the courtyard for some partner work. Each pair completed 100 merkins, 100 LBCs and 100 squats (combined reps), while the partner would run up and down steps.

T-claps to the PAX for cleaning up the overgrowth on the stairs! #SafetyFirst

Finally, we mosied back to the Schiele parking lot and wrapped up with a COP full of various favorites. Of course we started with Bandit’s favorite… the Dying Cockroach. By popular demand, and in honor or Stroganoff who was battling the CRUD, some flutter kicks (always too many in my opition). There were several calls that we were at 0800, but YHC heard no church bells so we pressed on with monkey humpers, squats, merkins, and ultimately 5 BOYO until we made the church bells ring!

Great work by everyone in attendence today. It was a pleasure to welcome FNGs Johnny Cash (Jeff Walker) and Picaso (Jon Craig). You guys put in the work this morning! Well done guys.

Lots of calls for thanks and prayers in the COT today. Sledge-o-matic’s father will have surgery in 10 days for a pacemaker, thanks for our families, prayers for our country. Also for JK2’s business as they are going through changes. Thanks for the health of JJ’s mom who has been cancer free for 15 years. Prayers and thanks for CMPD and others keeping peace in our community in light of recent events (especially our brother Roscoe who was in the trenches). Pink Floyd lifted his friend Chuck who recently had a serious mountain bike accident resulting in broken arm and concussion. For Anderson, SC where they are dealing with tragedy of a young boy taking the life of his father. We also held up those that are living life unhappy, praying that they find joy.

As you can see, life is happening all around us, often totally out of our control. Take time to enjoy the blessings you have been given, and reach out to help those in your own families and communities. Let’s all be aware, be HIM, be part of the solution!

Pleasure leading you men today!

Bandit

Shhhhhh……

With the events the past week in nearby Charlotte of death, civil unrest, riots and protests, and LEOs taking a lot of s#!t, along with a very taxing week at work, I found it very hard to find any quiet within my head and heart.  So I decided the PAX would visit 3 places where folks are quiet (…most of the time…sometimes).

Warmup

Thanks to Squirt for Q’ing the warmup, YHC is usually winded by 15 SSH….so he began with SSH IC x 15, followed by (in no particular order) Imperial Walkers IC x15 , Merkins IC x 10-15 (?). Somewhere in the midst, Dolph reminded us that at Fighting Yank, any time the train goes by we drop and do 5 burpees.  Sure enough, we could hear the diesels pumping and horns blasting all the way from downtown G-town, so 5 burpees it was.  Then we slow moseyed around the parking lot including High Knees, Butt Kickers and Karaoke left and right then to the flag for the POA (may Old Glory forever fly!)  Squirt graciously handed the Q over to YHC and after count-a-rama of 15 we moseyed to the little church in the west.

The Thang

In my Q’s I have taken a cue (pun intended) from C-SPAN who guest Q’ed a few weeks ago and had us choose one exercise we hated the most and do more of it.

So after running up that hill to the church parking lot, we began with Ring Of Fire since I hate Merkins.  (Also most PAX planked until 6…YHC …got there, but I Omaha’ed from a distance to Al Gore instead and continued that for Brownstreak’s slooowww count of 15) On the second round of ROF, Mayor and Dolph decided to make them Handclap Merkins….good work men!

Next we saluted Garrison Blvd with Monkey Humpers IC x 10.  It was then decided that any jet flyover over would result in 6 Monkey Humpers IC (I dunno where 6 came from) which was repeated at least 3-4 more times during the morning.

Our next quiet place was the library, so down the hill we moseyed.  We reminisced one of the very first F3 workouts in Gashouse with plank walk on the curb around the big oak tree near the loading dock, followed by Rocky Balboas OYO x 20.  Headed around back for some Dora 1-2-3, SSH x 100, lunges x 200, flutter kicks x300 with a partner or trio.  I still get confused in the moment on single count and double count so we may have done 600 flutters instead!

Moseyed up the steps to Garrison (Tclaps to Blart for doubling up the steps!) for another planned salute of Monkey Humpers x 10 IC.  Mosey to Grier parking lot for our 3rd quiet place (this is where the sometimes quiet applies…..I know from experience decades ago that ISS is pretty quiet).  I misjudged the remaining time so we cut what I had planned and saluted Garrison a third time with Crab Humpers IC x 10, then moseyed back to Schiele parking lot.  

With 15 minutes left we headed downhill to the nature trail (bonus quiet place!) and partnered again. P1 takes a lap around the grist mill and P2 burpeed until they dropped (omaha was called by some esp by YHC), 2 laps each.  Then we headed back up that monster hill for some Mary.  (Let it also be known at this point, the mighty mighty Dolph was winded.)

Imperial Walkers IC x 20 (thank you Lord Vader may I have another?), Appalachian Americans (Hillbillies) IC x 10, Moroccan Nightclubs IC x 30 and a few burpees and more Monkey Humper flyovers.  It seemed like time was dragging slowly so we called it at 7:59.58 on HushPuppy’s clock and the bells of freedom rang during the beginning of Name-o-rama.

I encouraged the PAX to make time each day, even if just a few minutes, to find that quiet place in their mind whether it’s praying, meditating, music, whatever.  Just pause and reflect in the midst of the chaos.

Peace!

DaVinci

I looked back at a few old workouts of mine and found one I last did almost exactly a year ago. I called it the ‘Forrest Gump’ and decided it was time to bring it back. But first, kudos to Monk for a great 3rd F just before the main event on Saturday. It was a good reflection on the BRR and tying it into the spirituality of the event.

The gloom was relatively cooler than it has been so a large crowd gathered for a breakfast helping of beef and noodles. We did have an FNG arrive (due to reading a recent article in the Gaston Gazette; so that’s proof that someone does read the local newspaper) so we went through the disclaimer before getting on with it. Near the end of the 3rd F, I believe I saw Blart jogging into the parking lot looking like he was finishing some extra credit work. Nice work Blart.

Warm-Up (In-Cadence)

SSH X 15
LBC’s X 20
Imperial Walkers X 15
Freddy Mercury’s X 20

Mosey to the Flag for the Pledge.

The Thang

Mosey/Jog/Run west along Garrison Blvd. to the Church for the first station for some In-Cadence Work:

Merkins X 12
Prayer Squats X 20
Flutter Kicks X 20
Mountain Climbers X 20

Continue with the Mosey/Jog/Run to the next station at Hillbilly’s BBQ for the next group of In-Cadence work:

Merkins X 13
Hillbillies (Appalachian Americans??) X 20
Flutter Kicks x 20
Mountain Climbers x 15

Mosey/Jog/Run to the circle/flag area at Lineberger Park for the next station:

Dora 1-2-3 Partner Work

With partner, perform cumulative reps as follows:

100 Merkins
200 Flutter Kicks
300 Squats (For time, we Omaha’d to 200 squats)
While partner 1 performed the reps, partner 2 ran the sidewalk toward the pool, made steps and returned. This was switched off until all the reps were completed.

Mosey/Jog/Run to the upper playground area inside the train tracks for the next station and in-cadence work:

Dips X 15
Squats X 20
Dips X 15

Mosey/Jog/Run back to the flag circle for the final work at Lineberger Park:

Modified Ring of Fire with 5 reps of Merkins for everyone but only one time around the ring (short on time).

Mosey/Jog/Run back to the Church to pay homage to our fearless Nantan (Whoopee) with a set of Monkey Humpers X 10 with our glorious backsides toward traffic.

Mosey/Jog/Run back to the Schiele to close out the workout. Nice work men. My apologies for taking us just past 8:00 am. Got in over 3 miles this morning.

Welcome to Jim Gallagher (FNG – Sledge-O-Matic). We hope you will join us again.

Announcements: CSAUP coming up November 11-12, sign up now.

Prayer Requests + Name-o-rama.

Terrific work men. As always, I appreciate the opportunity to lead us.

Until the next one. Aye!

Stroganoff

I’ve been a part of F3 now since March of 2016. After surviving the first few workouts after having shoulder surgery 5 months prior, I knew I was going to enjoy these workouts. I also knew my day would come to lead one.  Finally the day arrived. I truly thought I would have had a mere handful with a large portion of our group out of town running the BRR, but 15 came out to support me for my VQ. After a great 3rd F by Dr. Feelgood I made my first VQ mistake and didn’t start on time! I gave the usual your an idiot for following me disclaimer and jumped right in. At several points throughout the workout I completely forgot I should be counting or even how to count (seems super easy when I’m following along, didn’t think I needed to practice to be Q!).

Warmup – The warmup consisted of the usual suspects; SSH, LBC’s, Don Quizotes, and finally some Merkins to get the arms warm.

The Thang

After a quick warmup we moseyed to the flag for the pledge and then on to Grier for some track work to help us remember the fun our BRR brothers were having.  After having the group count off in 2’s, I quickly gave what can only be called clear as muddy water directions (trust me they were crystal clear in my head). Along the track I had laid out numbers 1 thru 4 with an exercise written along with the number. With the 1’s starting on one side and the 2’s starting on the other we were to run around the track stopping at the 1’s and doing 10 of each exercise. Then around a 2nd time stopping at the 2’s and doing 20; so on until we completed 4 laps and a combined 1 mile and 200 reps of the following:

Lap 1-Diamond Merkins/Burpees X10 ea. Lap 2-Seal jacks/Plank jacks X20 ea.                                                                              Lap 3-LBC’s/Moraccan Night Clubs X30 ea. Lap 4-Squats/Flutter kicks X40 ea.

After a quick gathering to count off and a chance for the Q to catch his breath we moved over to the tables for a trip down memory lane and my first workout one cold March morning. We did 3 rounds of the following exercises with each round increasing by 5, starting at 10, with a lap down to the ballfield and back up in between each set; dips, Merkins,step-ups, and Derkins.

Each round the mumble chatter got a little louder and I could tell the guys were really starting to like me and the workout I had chosen!  After finishing up we gathered at the “G” and recycled the numbers with workouts on them, playing a little F3 Roulette. We completed another combined set of 200 of the track exercises and still had 15 mins left to go!  We moseyed back to the Schiele for a brief pause while I encouraged the men to “climb on” whatever mountain they may face and in this case it would be the trail at the bottom of the property. Down we went with some mumble chatter behind me. We made it down and commenced to do 10 8-count body builders (telling ya, the guys were loving me). After that we moseyed back to the top for what had to be the ringing of the bells that signaled an end to our misery. Alas, it was not so. It seemed that a new exercise I had just learned must be shared. We zombie lunged about 15 or 20 yards and bear crawled back. The bells were delayed some more so I did what any good Q would do, I picked an exercise on our six (which at this point can not be recalled). Finally the bells rang and we finished out with the COT and announcements.

It was truly an honor to lead this group of men and I look forward to leading more sessions (with counting practice of course and clear directions or easier exercises). Thanks for the opportunity.

Squirt